Întoarcerea sferelor de influență: eurasianismul ca proiect revizionist și reconfigurarea securității europene*
The Return of Spheres of Influences: Eurasianism as a Revisionist Project and the Reconfiguration of European Security

Summary/Abstract: This article examines the ideological foundations of Russian foreign policy and their structural consequences for the European security architecture. Starting from the premise that the return of spheres of influence in contemporary international practice should not be understood merely as a geopolitical improvisation or a reaction to NATO enlargement, the article argues that Eurasianism – reinterpreted and progressively institutionalized as state doctrine under Vladimir Putin - represents a coherent revisionist project with measurable effects on the post-Cold War European order.The analysis combines two complementary theoretical frameworks: Regional Security Complex Theory, developed by Barry Buzan and Ole Wæver, and National Role Conceptions Theory, associated with Kalevi J. Holsti. The first framework enables the analysis of interconnected security dynamics in the Extended Black Sea Region, where chains of reciprocal securitizations have transformed a space with cooperative potential into a terrain of strategic confrontation. The second explains the internal mechanism through which Eurasianism became operational in Russian foreign policy:a profound reconfiguration of Russia's national role conception, from partner in the cooperative post-Cold War security architecture to revisionist challenger proposing an alternative international order.The article traces the trajectory of Eurasianism from its interwar philosophical origins to its gradual institutionalization in official Russian strategic documents and analyzes the instruments through which this project materialized in the post-Soviet space: frozen conflicts, energy dependencies, and sharp power. The Extended Black Sea Region is examined as the primary laboratory of this process.The article concludes that the return of spheres of influence is no longer an analytical hypothesis, but an observable political reality and that the rapid reconfiguration of European security after 2022 demonstrates both the resilience of the European security order and the costs of delayed responses to revisionist challenges.Eurasianism, revisionism, Regional Security Complex, National Role Conceptions, European security, Extended Black Sea Region

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